Elizabeth Blasius

Thanks for sharing this article! It was an enjoyable one to write and research!

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I have always been so curious about this building! Great research and photos by @ladytophamcatt.bsky.social

Virgil Abloh, Edith Farnsworth, and Midcentury Modernism For her monthly column, Elizabeth Blasius reviews two new books threaded together by Midcentury Modernism: Make it Ours: Crashing the Gates of Culture…

My monthly column in MAS Context returns with a review of two great summer reads threaded together by Midcentury Modernism: Make it Ours: Crashing the Gates of Culture with Virgil Abloh by Robin Givhan, and Almost Nothing: Reclaiming Edith Farnsworth by Nora Wendl.

Thanks, as always, for reading!

The compact disc isn’t going quietly - Chicago Reader Vinyl has long been the big story in physical media, but CDs are cheaper, quicker to manufacture, and poised for a comeback.

[bravely] i wrote about cds

I speak up for myself because my mental health demands it, but the power dynamics are as such that whenever I do, I am reminded that I am not the CEO of a preservation non-profit, a well known elderly male architect or someone who was "in the room" while history was happening.

Man architectural historians say this out loud? Barf.

A former professor who was “in the room” when the Farnsworth House was sold. He was added to the panel at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago at the very last minute. During his speaking portion, he stands in front of me and begins, jokingly, with “Elizabeth was an unremarkable student...”

An elderly Chicago architect saying to me “I don’t know who you are” after introducing myself prior to a panel on the Farnsworth House at the CAC we were to be on together. He spoke for 25 minutes over his allotted 6. No one stopped him. What would have happened if a woman like me did this?

A powerful and well respected female colleague in preservation telling me “you were on that panel on the Farnsworth House at IIT because I told the organizer to invite you.” As if my own expertise and relationship to the organizer was non-existant. Internalized sexism is real.

I am inclined to be less agreeable and friendly after reading Nora's book and having some of the most unfortunate professional experiences speaking on three different panels about the Farnsworth House! I am now a Sherman Tank.

LOL @blaservations.bsky.social reading Nora Wendl on what it is like to be a woman architectural historian: "It demands that you remain agreeable and friendly when you are provided with information that you already know, or information that is incorrect." mascontext.com/observations...

Per a post on Jahn's Instagram account, the vibrant red steel of the James R. Thompson Center is shifting to a "sleek, modern gray."

Yes And — Exhibit Columbus For the fifth cycle of Exhibit Columbus, Yes And invites contributors to explore the legacy of Columbus, Indiana, by adding to the multiple and overlapping lives of buildings and spaces. Originating i...

I am excited to share our work as a curatorial team for Exhibit Columbus with the world on August 15th & 16th!

If you haven't been to Columbus, or you've been, but not during Exhibit Columbus, opening weekend is a great opportunity to see everything in action! www.exhibitcolumbus.org/yes-and

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